USI report card: Eagles hitting stride midway though GLVC play

USI Head Coach Rodney Watson (center) strategizes with his team during a timeout in the second half against the Ohio Valley Fighting Scots in Evansville, Ind., Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017. The Screaming Eagles defeated the Fighting Scots, 95-69, in their last non-conference game of the season.(Photo: SAM OWENS/ COURIER & PRESS)Buy Photo

EVANSVILLE — Although Southern Indiana has passed the midway point of Great Lakes Valley Conference play, the upcoming stretch is perhaps its most important.

USI (17-5) has essentially clinched back-to-back 20-win seasons — a feat it didn’t accomplish in 2014-15 or in ‘15-16. The Eagles also are 8-2 in conference and stayed put in second place.

There weren’t high or low expectations for this year’s squad, even though the GLVC coaches picked USI to finish fourth in the five-team East Division. By that standard, they’re overachieving.

But fans don’t seem to care if the team wins 18 or 25 games during the regular season. They want postseason success.

That’s what makes the next month so critical. USI has eight games remaining and five are away from home, where it’s 12-0. The Eagles’ last home contest is Feb. 10 and the Midwest Regional doesn’t begin until March 10.

While averaging 81.1 points and outscoring opponents by 11.3 per game, the Eagles constantly struggle to play a full 40 minutes. Whether it’s slow starts or long dry spells, it’s rare for them to control from start to finish.

Sure, basketball is a game of runs, but USI has trailed at the half 11 times and all five losses have come when they score below their average. (They’re only averaging 65.6 points in those.)

Yet, the Eagles can play with – and beat – anyone in the country when they’re on.

Alex Stein is averaging 18.4 points and he’s second nationally in free-throw percentage having made 103 of 108 attempts. Nate Hansen is averaging 14.4 points despite having started just 10 of 19 games he's played while Marcellous Washington is also in double figures at 12.2 with a team-high 49 3-pointers.

Despite inconsistencies, the Eagles are 33rd in field goal percentage at 49.1. If you’re making half the shots you attempt, you’re fine.

The offense has not been a concern. Not when you’ve won by double digits 12 times.

This grade would’ve been worse one week ago, but USI since put together its best two defensive games of the season against Wisconsin-Parkside and McKendree.

It allowed a season-low 55 points to the Rangers, then 56 to the Bearcats. Those came after allowing nearly 80 in each of the three games prior.

It’s quite impressive to see such a quick turnaround, and it's resulted in better offensive performances, too.

I thought USI could be in for a rough year because it spent the first two months essentially playing to the level of its competition. That’s no longer the case, so statistics don’t reflect how the Eagles are currently playing.

Except for rebounding. USI is fourth nationally with 895 boards and is getting 9.2 more per game than its opponents.

Again, I think the Eagles would’ve deserved a ‘C’ last week, but it’s promising to see improvement.

I tend to only watch part of one practice per week, so it’s not exactly fair for me to critique things I don’t see. That said, there isn’t much to nitpick about the job coach Rodney Watson and his staff has done.

They absolutely hit on the two freshmen from Indianapolis North Central High School. Emmanuel Little is proving to be one of the best big men in the GLVC and Mateo Rivera has shown confidence and maturity since the opener.

It also was smart to let Vincennes University transfer Nate Hansen rejoin his Reitz buddies Stein and Jacob Norman. He’s single-handedly turned games around when he gets hot.

So, they did a good job assimilating those three newcomers. Let’s quickly break down the five losses:

They weren’t ready for their season-opener against Augustana and should’ve won.

They lost the next weekend to Hillsdale, which plays a different offense than they normally see, so that’s understandable and likely benefitted them.

They showed a valiant effort against a top-10 team in West Texas A&M and had a chance to force overtime until Stein missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

They lost at Drury, a place that’s never easy for opponents. I don’t think anyone expected USI to go undefeated in the GLVC, anyway.

Then they lost at Bellarmine and, well, no one wins there.

USI is favored to win every game here on out, though the Bellarmine rematch followed by the showdown at William Jewell are essentially toss-ups, according to the Massey Ratings.